Deiving mechanism



..Aug.128, 1928. 1,682,140 J. E. MITCHELL ET AL V DRIVING u-ECHANISM Filed Oct. 23, 1926 iw... /o Aw,

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Patented Aug. 28, 1928.

UNITED STATES l 1,682,140 PATENT/OFFICE.

JoHN E. MITCHELL AND oIwILLE MITCHELL, or sr. LoU'Is, MISSOURI.

DRIVING MHCHANISM.

Application filed October 23. 1926. Serial No. 143,550. i

rlhis invention relates to novel feed mechanism for use, particularly, in cotton cleaning machines of the type illustrated in various patents heretofore granted to John E. Mitchell, one ofthe joint inventors herein. and as to a later form of such machine, in a pending application of the said John E. Mitchell, Serial No. 102,609, filed April 17th, 1926. y

The general object of the invention is'to provide feed mechanism which shall operate in a continuous manner, as distinguished from an intermittent feeding operation which ias characterized all prior machines of the type Vreferred to. Such intermittent feed mechanism is also illustrated in various prior patents, for example, in the patent to Mitchell & Parks, No. 1,360,132, dated November 23rd, 1920. I

An intermittentlyoperating feeding mechanism has the disadvantage that the cotton is fed in relatively large bunches to the saw cylinder, which results in the saw Vcylinder, being overloaded at one time and insuliiciently supplied with cotton in the interval between the feeding operations. This disadvantage is heightened by the fact that the cotton is not uniform in its compactness, so that less cotton is fed in one` feeding cycle of the rollers than at another.

The present invention aims to overcome the objections incident to an intermittent feeding operation byproviding for a continuous movement of the feed rollers, but by such means as will prevent damage to any of the operating parts due to the feed rollers being stopped by the introduction between them of a stone, piece of metal, or the like.

The present invention also provides means for readily adjusting the speed of rotation of the feed rollers by a simple shifting of the drive belt. from one sized pulley to the other without, in any manner, changing the relation of the other parts of the mechanism.

Y lVith the above objects in view, the invention is characterized `by the provision of a yieldingly mounted pulley carrying a pinion for driving the feed rollers and driven by a belt from a pulley on the drive shaft, the pinion being so mounted that in the event the feed rollers are suddenly stopped by a stone,

or the like, the pinion will be caused to travel downward on the gear it is driving and thereby carry downward the pulley on ywhich it is secured, which operates to cause the belt to loosen and move away from the drive pulley on the drive shaft and thus stop the drive of the .feeding mechanism.

The invention is further characterized by the provision of a cone pulley, or a series of pulleys of'diiferent sizes operating as a unit, which are keyed to move with and slide on thev driveshaft. so that the drive Abelt may be readily placed on one or the other of these pulleys to vary the speed "at which the feed rollers are rotated.

The invention is still further characterized by the pi'ovision of means for insuring that the drive belt shall'be caused to clear its driving pulley when the driven pulley operated thereby is lowered by the stoppageof the feed rollers. :I Y

rThe invention is still further characterized by means for holding the'drivingmechanism m the inoperative -position after theaccidental stoppage of the feed rollers, so that the feed mechanism will not again ,be operated until the obstructionv has been removed and the operator has released the holding mechanism. This device also permits the feed to be discontinued vat any time at the will-of the operator. i h The specific embodiment of the invention Illustrated Vin the accompanying drawing comprises a pair of Lfeed rollers geared tol gether, a driving gear for driving said rollers, a swinging arm hinged on the shaft of said gear, a pulley withan attached pinionc-arried on one end of the swinging arm so that, regardless of thev position of the arm, 'the pinion is always in mesh with the driving gear, and al spring or weight von the opposite end of the swinging arm for maintaining a yielding tension` on the belt which drive-s said pulley.A

'An additional advantagel ofy this construction is that the. swinging arm automatically adjusts the tension on the belt. either due to its various positions' on the. pulleys or to stretching of the lbelt,'in addition to permitting movement. of the driven pulley vso as to permit the belt to slacken and ing mechanism. Y

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which-` j' Figure lis a viewin sidelelevation of a cotton cleaning machine provided with our improved feedingV mechanism; i

Figure 2 is a similar view looking from the lstop the feedthe upper' portion of the machine viewed in (he direction of Figure 2; and

Figure 4 is a broken view partly in section showing the catch for the rod that holds the feed mechanism in an inoperative position, and the arrangement of the adjustable series of pulleys on the drive shaft.

Referring now to the drawing, the numeral 1 indicates the casing of the machine in which the 4operating `mechanism (not shown) for cleaning cotton is enclosed and in the side walls of'whichare mounted in suitable bearings the shafts of; `the various rotating elements constituting said -cleaning mechanism. As the construction and arrangement of such cotton cleaning mechanism is not involved in the present application, and, moreover, is (.lisclored in one lform or another in various prior patents, and especially in the pending application above referred to, no illustration of such mechanism is deemed necessary.

f'llhef'upperpartof I'the casing 1 provides a relatively .narrow portion, indicated Aby the numeral 2 in iFigureiS, throughwhich the cotn ton is fed to the cotton cleaningmechanism below. ,Mounted .in thisupper portion 2 of the casing are. two feed rollers and 4. The feed roller -isimounted on a shaft 5 having bearings in the side walls of the casing, as

above stated, and on one-end of this shaft is r at 12. i VRotatably mounted inthe arm near itsopposite end is a stub shaft- 13on the outer endiofnvhichfis .secureda ,pulley 14 and on thefinner `end of'whichfissecuredl a pinion 15 (Fig- Slnwhich;istinumesh with the gear v6. The pulley 14 is driven by a belt 16 which, at its upper end, passes over `said pulley, and at its'lower end passesoverione or the other of the -pulleys 17, 18, 19 (-Figs; 1 and 4). These pulleysare formed as a unitary structure and their hub or barrelis slidablymounted on the drive shaft-f2() through `the medium of a key 21. lnl changing thexbelt 16 from one pulley to the other to vary the speedcof rotation of the.` .feed rollers, .the pulleys aresimplyslid in one directionoritheA other onthe shaft` 20 to bring theA pulley selected in line with the pulley 14. 'iThelrey 21, of course, maintains the pulleys in lixedwrotational?relation with the sharftlt). As sliowirioyl Figure 2, each of the-shafts 5, and-Sis provided atits end opposite lo that shown in Figure l, witha gear 22, which: gears intermesh and. which are for-the purpose of providing a Vuniform distribution of power to the feed rollers 3 and 4.V When the pulley 14 is rotated, the pinion 15 causes the gear 6 to rotate which, in turn, through the medium ofthe pinion`7, rotates the gear 9. This gear rotates the feed roller 4 and the shaft 8 which, in turn, rotates the gear 22 at the opposite end of shaft 8, which gear rotates the companion gear 22 on the corresponding end'of the shaft 5, which thereby causes the feed roller 3 to be rotated.

The main .saw cylinder (not shown) is mounted on the'shaft 20. The numeral 23 indicates Lthe main Adrive pulley which is mounted on one end of a shaft 24, and which pulleylis driven by a belt (not shown) from any suitablesource,ofpowen On the opposite end of the shaft 24 to that shown in Figure 1, there ismounted a pulley25, and similar pulleys indicated, as to each, by the-numeral 26, aremounted on the corresponding ends of the shafts of'the various rotating members constituting they cotton cleaning mechanisnnnll of these pulleys beingv driven bya belt` 27. One of the shafts driven by a pulley 26, that at the'lower lefthand corner of Figure 1 and the lower righthand corner of Figure 2 and indicated by the numeral 28, is provided at the end shown in Figure 1 with av gear 29 which is iirmesh with a gear 30 which, in turn, is in mesh with a gear 31 (Fig. 1),y secured near theend of the shaft 20 containing the pulleys 17, 18 and, 19. Through the driving connectionsdescribed, the shaft 20 an`d `'the pulleysthereonare rotated and, of course, vthe cleaning mechanism within the casing, operated. lThecpulley 14 is rotated by the belt 16 in the directionlindicated by the arrows, and it will nowzbe seen that if the feed rol-lersand 4 should be preventedv from rotationrby the entrance ,of-a stonefpiece of metal, `or the likeybetween them, as the gears 6 and 9.ca11notrotate, the pinionl will be caused to :travel downward over thefperiphery of the gear 6, causing the :inner end of` the arm 1Q to belowered against the resistance of the spring 11, and correspondingly lowering thef'pulley 14. This movement, of course, causes thelowerfend of the belt 16 to drop below thepulley 17, 18 or 19, over which it was running at the time, and thus interruptthe driving connection between the shaft20 and the -pu'lley 14, so that the pulley; 14 and pinion 15 will no longer vberotated. However', ithasbeen found that a very slight contact of thebelt 16 withioneor :the other of the' pulleys l?, 18,19, is suflicient tof exert considerable driving poweron thepulley 14, and in order to iinsure that when the pulley 14 is lowered, the lower end of thebelt 16 will entirely: clear the pulleys, `or the pulley on which itis running at thel time, we mount on the side ofthe casing a vrod32rwhich projects laterally outward a v short `distance from the side of the belt 16, so that when the `pulley 14 lll lis lowered by the arm 1()v in the manner previously described, the belt will engage the rod 32 and cause it to bemoved fout of Contact with the pulley 17, 18 or 19 on the pulling side thereof and thus causethe belt to entirely clear the pulley, at least as to such side, and prevent any tendency of the belt bycontact with the drive pulley, to rotate the pulley 14,

In order to permit the operator to render the feed rollers inoperative at will, or to hold the feed mechanism in-inoperativev position while removing au obstacle from the rollers, we pivotally mount on the inner end of the arm 10, the upper end of a rod 33 which, at its lower end, is bent at right angles as indicated at A341: in Figure` lso that it can be pressed downward by the operator, and at some distance from its lower end, has secured thereon a collar 35. The lower-*portion of the'rod 33vbeyond the collar 35 rests in a slot 36 provided in the outer end of a bracket 37 (Fig. Li) secured `on the side of the casing. By drawing down the rod 33 a lsufficient distance, the

rod above said collar inthe slot 36, the inner end of the arm 1() may be held in the'lowered position to maintain the feed mechanism in an inoperative position for such length of time as may be desired.

While we have shown our improved feed mechanism as applied to a cotton cleaning machine, it will be obvious that it is not limited to such application, but would ybe equally applicable for use in any character of machine where material is passed between two positively driven rotating members and where the accidental entrance between said members of some object of a sufficient size or degree of hardness to cause stoppage of such members, might cause damage to the machine. Vith our improvement, it will be seen that while the feed rollers or other rotating membeis are positively and continuously driven and at any desired speed of rotation, nevertheless the sudden blocking of rotation of the feed rollers or other rotary members will not cause injury, for the reason that the driving pinion 15 immediately rides over the periphery of the gear which it is driving, that indicated by 6 in the drawing, and causes the driving belt to be separated from its driving pulley, and thus prevents further rotation of the pulley 14 which drives said pinion.

It will be further seen that by mounting the driving mechanism in the manner described and illustrated herein, the pinion 15 will be maintained in mesh with the gear 6 in any position of the arm 10, and the belt 16 will be maintained under tension in any adtlfe periphery thereof, yieldable means tendf ing normally kto resist orbital movement of said pinion in one direction, a pulley fast with said pinion for driving the same and bodily movable therewith, and a belt drive for said pulley maintained under tension by ksaid yieldable means.

2. In mechanism of the class described, a gear, an arm pivotally mounted intermediatel its ends in line with the axis of said gear, a pinion carried toward one end of said arm in mesh with said gear, a pulley fast .with said pinion for driving the samevto rotate said gear, a belt drive forsaid pulley, and means exerting yielding pressure on the other end of said arm and normally `maintaining said belt under tension. i

3. In combination, a pair of ,rotary members mounted in geared relation, a driving gear secured on the shaft of one of said mem-A bers, an arm pivotaliy mounted intermediate its ends in line with the axis of said' driving gear, a pinion for driving said mounted toward one end of said arm, apulley fast with said pinion for driving the same, a belt drive for said pulley, and means for exerting yielding pressure yon the other end of said arm for holding the belt of said drive normally under tension.

4. In combination with a pair of rotary members mounted in geared relation, a driving gear mounted on the shaft of one of said members, an arm pivotally mounted intermediate its ends on the shaft of said gear, a pinion for driving said gear mounted near one end of said arm, a driven pulley fast With said pinion for driving the same, a driving pulley located below said driven pulley, a belt connecting the two pulleys, and means for exerting yielding pressure on the other end of said arm for holding the belt of said drive normally under tension, the arrange ment being such that upon accidental stoppage of said rotary members, said pinion will be caused to ride over the periphery of said driving gear to cause the end of said arm carrying said pinion and said 'driven pulley to be lowered, whereby to separate said belt from its driving pulley.

5. In mechanism of the class described, a gear, an arm pivotally mounted intermediate its ends in line with the axis of said gear, a pinion carried toward one end of said arm 'in mesh with said gear, a pulley fast with said pinion for driving the same to rotate said gear, a belt drive for said pulley including a second pulley for driving said belt, means exerting yielding pressureon the other end of said arm and normally maintaining said belt under tension, the arrangement being sulcli that `upon accidental stoppage `ot said gear, said pinion will be caused to ride-over the periphery of said driving gear to cause the end of saidarm carrying said pinion and said pulley to be lowered, whereby to loosen said belt on said second or driving pulley, and means positioned in proximity to said belt and adapted to be engaged thereby as said pulley islowered to cause said belt, to be moved out of driving engagementwith said second pulley.

6. In mechanism of the class described, a gear, an arm pivotally mounted intermediate its ends in line with the axis of said gear,

a pinion `carried toward one end of said arm in mesh with said'gear, a pulley fastwith said pinion fordriving the same to rotate said gear, a belt drive ifor said pulley including a driving pulley for said belt, means eX- 'l erting yielding pressure on the other end of said arm and normally maintaining said belt under tension, and means associated with theirst end of said arm for holding such end in a lowered position, .whereby to release the tension on said beltand maintain the same clear of its driving pulley.

7 In mechanism ol the class described, a gear, a pinion in mesh with said gear for rotating the same, and orbitally movable over the periphery thereof, yieldable means tendingy normally to resist orbital movement of said pinion in one direction, a pulley fast with said pinion for driving the same and bodily movable therewith, a belt drive for saidpulley maintained undertension'by said yieldableimeans, and means for varying the speed of saidbeltdrive.

8.V In mechanismofthe class described, a gear, a pinion in mesh :with said gear for-ro tating Athe-same,;and orbitally movable over the periphery thereof, yieldable means tending normally; tof resist orbital movementof said; pinion inone direction,- a pulley fast with fsaid` pinion for, driving the same and bodilyfmovable` therewith,-y a belt drive for saidy pulley maintained. under tension by said yieldable means, and adjustable means orvarying the speedof said belt drive.

9. In mechanism ofthe class described,a gear, a pinion -in mesh'withsaid gear yfor -rotating the saine, and forbitally movable vover the periphery thereof,- yieldable means tending normally to resist. orbital movement of said pinion in one directioma pulley fast with said pinion fordriving thesameand bodily movable therewith, adrive sha-t,-a series of pulleys oidiferentsizes slidably mounted on said drive. shat-'tobe driven thereby, and a beltv passed :over said pulley and one or the other of said series of pulleys,A

the latter being slidable on the :drive shaft to vbring one or theother-of them lintoiline with said first named pulley, whereby to vary the speed of 'the drive.

\ In testimony whereof, we have hereunto set our hands.

JOHN' E. ',M'ITGHELL.

(DEVILLE MITGHELL. 

